Zam personifies all that is wrong with Umno

Aries46: S Thayaparan, this is certainly a well-written piece from a knowledgeable professional who not only debunks the has-been ex-information minister's bunkum, your articulation educates us on the insidious nature of Umno's hegemony vis-a-vis the Indonesian experience.

Many of us in who were our teens then were aware of the Indonesian 'race riots' in 1965 that was reported locally as a purge against the communists, but not in detail the ensuing developments such as the elimination of the 'pribumi' racist profiling and others that you were fortunate to have learned by virtue of your official postings and developed friendships in Jakarta.

Thank you for enlightening us about those lunatics who relish in raising the spectre of May 13 to realise their nefarious agenda.

Tholu: "In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."

In BN, there are no two-eyed men, and it is therefore assumed that morons like former information minister Zainuddin Maidin are great intellectuals.

Paul Warren: Thayaparan, a good insight into why Zainuddin and former inspector-general of police (IGP) Abdul Rahim Noor have taken their stand. The great danger that they see is the dispensing of the term ‘pribumi' in Indonesia and what its implications are.

The fact that over 200 million Muslim Indonesians who are more Malay than these pseudo-Malays of Zainuddin's stock can dispense with their identification of themselves as pribumi and their willingness to sacrifice the advantages of having the identification and segmentation as pribumis scares those who wish to continue benefiting from being bumiputera in this nation.

Now that Indonesia has dispensed with the pribumi identification and the advantages derived therein, Malaysia stands as a pariah holding on to these apartheid-style policies.

They don't want the larger population of genuine Malays to know of that Indonesia has dispensing with the label of pribumi, as the embarrassment of continuing to do so may make them forgo Umno.

Joe Lee: All Malaysians over 40 know that Umno has exploited the feudal mindset of the Malays, and used gangster tactics to cow the opposition in order to maintain power - first in 1969 and again in 1987.

In the 2013 general election, PM Najib Razak has pointedly not ruled out an 'emergency' should his party lose. Malaysians must know that Umno, just like Zimbabwe's African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF), is capable of causing maximum mayhem should it lose.

If that happens, it is likely a ‘ketuanan Melayu' leader like DPM Muhyiddin Yassin who will take the helm - possibly with the approval of the Armed Forces (their leaders would have been BTN graduates).

When that happens, Malaysians, led by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, will just have to stay calm and deal with the gangsters in a firm manner, leveraging the information flow that is now enabled by the Internet.

Even gangsters have a price - we need to make the price too prohibitive for them to want to try. A victorious Pakatan Rakyat leadership needs to make it very clear to all coup plotters that they and their families would have to pay a severe price if they are involved in a plot against democracy.

Pemerhati: Zainuddin, who currently is down and out and who has been forgotten by the Umno leadership, was essentially trying to earn some brownie points by attacking Umno's No 1 enemy, Anwar.

Since elections are around the corner, he was hoping that by saying things that would be music to Najib's ears, Najib would reward him handsomely and elevate him to his former level.

In this particular instance, to attack Anwar, he had to bring in Habibie and so this has caused a small uproar.

In robust democracies with a free press, such as those in the West, any statement made by a non-government individual like Zainuddin, which severely criticises a foreign head of state or anyone will be ignored, rebutted or the aggrieved party may resort to legal action.

But in this part of the world, we do things slightly differently.

Raja Chulan: Umno is nothing but a racist party. Its core is anti-democracy. ‘Divide and rule' and the ‘bumi and non-bumi divide' are its mantras.

May 13 is its tactic to scare and intimidate. History will show that Umno has been a mafia-like organisation for the last 30 years. Former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad is its Don Corleone. People like Zainuddin, Rahim Noor and Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali are the soldiers.

On the other hand, Indonesian former president BJ Habibie is a true democrat who helped Timur Leste achieve self-rule. Allowing a referendum for self-determination there is a fundamental essence of democratic practice.

Anonymous #33877536: I say that Umno cannot, and will not, change its habits. As said, the Malays today are not like before, they are a changed lot and they know what is happening and who is getting the lion's share of the government largess.

So, Umno is fighting a losing battle or as they call it "war", as they know the Malays are not so stupid as to listen to them.

Why are they bringing out the May 13 issue? Because they are losing Malay support, and they want to show a movie to the younger generation of Malays to tell them Umno's version of what happened then. But that tactic is not going to work anymore.

Jesse: All over the world, nations that are playing the race and religion cards are rocked by violence, corruption and decay. Umno is taking the nation in this direction just to remain in power and enrich its leaders.

This is a nation led by a bunch of crooks. The second generation of Umno crooks led by Dr M and his inbred successors are killing the nation with threats of violence, as well as actual violence and rampant corruption.

We are now well-known as the world's biggest money launderers per capita and great bribe takers. What a reputation we have.

Headhunter: I couldn't agree with you more, Thayaparan. Zainuddin's nonchalant and arrogant attitude typifies Umno. They think the whole world must kowtow to them and our country is theirs for the taking and to abuse when they see fit.

And when challenged, they think violence and might is their only answer. I say enough is enough, and let's send a clear message to them in the coming general election.

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